Bulgaria plans to complete by the end of the year works on increasing the capacity of the interconnection points between Stara Zagora in Bulgaria and Komotini in Greece, between Kulata in Bulgaria and Sidirokastro in Greece, and between Negru Voda in Romania and Kardam in Bulgaria, the energy ministry said in a press release.
Once completed, the Vertical Gas Corridor should be able to transport 10 billion cubic metres of gas annually.
Image source: Bulgartransgaz
Bulgaria has applied for partial grant funding under the EU's Modernisation Fund, which would allow for a competitive tariff setup for regional users of the gas transmission network, the ministry noted.
"Bulgaria is the first country to start actual construction along the Vertical Gas Corridor, which makes our country an active driver of regional energy security efforts," energy minister Traycho Traykov said.
In September, Bulgarian state-owned gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz signed a 200 million levs ($120.7 million/102.3 million euro) long-term loan agreement with United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) to finance works on the Vertical Gas Corridor. Bulgartransgaz signed in 2024 two contracts worth nearly 485 million levs with consortia led by U.S.-based construction consulting firm Hill International and Bulgarian construction group Glavbolgarstroy (GBS) to expand infrastructure as part of the initiative.
In 2016, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary agreed to develop the infrastructure for the project, enabling bidirectional gas transmission among the participating countries. Ukraine, Moldova and Slovakia joined the initiative last year. The project aims to improve security of supply and diversify the sources and routes for transport of additional natural gas quantities from the south to the north.
(SeeNews, February 25, 2026)